The Humble Podcaster

Ah, the True Fan. The reason for this entire second season is finally here! So what is a True Fan exactly, and how do they differ from Subscribers? Chris walks us through that exact explanation, and if you’re a business that started a podcast to benefit your bottom line, you’ll be happy to know that Subscribers are all about supporting your podcast by way of dollar, dollar bills y’all. Chris also gives a helpful formula for calculating the number of True Fans you have and explains what’s next for The Humble Podcaster. Show Notes: Chris describes a True Fan, starting with his own fandom of his favorite band, and how it relates to podcasting (00:15) How True Fans differ from Subscribers (01:42) Calculating how many True Fans you have (03:13) Chris’ advice for corporate podcasts and why the True Fan concept is crucial for podcasts created as part of the bottom line (05:02) What’s next for The Humble Podcaster (06:50) Links: Kevin Kelly’s 1,000 True Fans Concept: https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/ The Humble Podcaster Newsletter: https://www.humblepod.com/subscribe-to-the-humble-podcaster/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode starts off at a familiar junction for many podcasters - the Grand Chasm between you and your listeners. You know they’re there, and you know they’re listening, but you don’t have direct access to them… until they become Subscribers. In this Stage of The Listener Lifecycle, Chris explains how to convert Followers to Subscribers, the upside to creating audience portability, and why knowing your audience is the key to successfully monetizing your podcast. Show Notes: We find Chris at the Grand Chasm in Podcasting, where he introduces the bridge that gives you direct access to your listeners - The Subscriber Stage (00:20) What are the different types of Subscribers? (01:05) How to add value for your Subscribers (02:25) Why the changes at Twitter speak to the importance of building a portable audience (04:15) How subscribers translate to revenue, and why it’s critical to know your audience (06:09) Links: THP Episode - How to Start a Podcast: Developing your Podcast: https://www.humblepod.com/podcast/developing-your-podcast-concept/ Masters of Scale with Brian Chesky: https://mastersofscale.com/brian-chesky/#WAIT_WHAT-player-2d08f85a-baf3-48b4-8815-16fa295037e6 “The upsides (and downsides) of angering one of the world's richest men” by Aaron Rupar: https://aaronrupar.substack.com/p/aaron-rupar-twitter-suspension-elon-musk Subscribe to our Newsletter! https://www.humblepod.com/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new Follower has appeared: congratulations! You’re halfway to creating another True Fan. The Follower stage of The Listener Lifecycle is an interesting one. They’ve committed to your show, but they aren’t necessarily actively listening. In fact, there’s really only one way to identify your Followers and convert them to True Fans - you have to engage them. How? Don’t worry, it doesn’t involve a diamond ring. Listen in as Chris explains the Follower stage on this episode of The Humble Podcaster! Show Notes: Chris pontificates on the age-old question, “What is a Follower?” (00:15) What happens in the Follower stage? (02:23) Chris’ first time being on a podcast, and why it’s important to engage listeners in the Follower stage of The Listener Lifecycle (03:29) Different methods you can use to successfully engage your Followers through your show (05:12) The best social media strategies for engaging Followers (07:16) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To Explorers of your podcast, you are uncharted territory - possibly worth subscribing to, possibly not. The goal of this stage in The Listener Lifecycle is to make them feel at home so that hopefully, they stick around awhile. Join Chris as he explains how to cater to these listeners so you can effectively help them cross the threshold into the Follower stage of The Listener Lifecycle, where they will officially become a part of your growing audience. Show Notes: Chris illustrates the challenges of moving someone into the Explorer stage through poetry (00:16) Defining the Explorer stage and how long it lasts (02:44) How to befriend your listeners (04:08) Understanding and calculating your audience size (06:25) Making sense of your audience metrics and optimizing for growth (08:52) Converting Explorers to Followers (09:42) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you know how people find out about your podcast? No matter where people find out about your show, something about it has to make them curious enough to find out more. And when that happens, it’s important that you’re ready to feed their curiosity and turn them into a listener. That’s why this week’s episode of The Humble Podcaster is all about the Curious stage of The Listener Lifecycle. Join Chris as he explains how to attract more people to become curious about your podcast, and how to direct their attention so they’re more likely to become True Fans of your show. Show Notes: Chris introduces the Curious phase of The Listener Lifecycle (00:18) The two things you need to achieve with your Curious listeners (01:39) How to prepare for Curious listeners (02:28) The role social media plays in this stage of The Listener Lifecycle (03:31) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.